Cycling: Armstrong says Uber investment saved his family – report

(Reuters) – Former cycling champion Lance Armstrong, whose fall from grace cost him millions of dollars in lawsuits and endorsements, said his investment in Uber Technologies Inc.[UBER.UL] had saved his family, according to a CNBC report on Thursday.

Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from the sport for doping, gave $100,000 to a venture capital fund that invested in the ride-hailing company around 2009, the report said.

Armstrong said in the interview he was not aware that he was investing in Uber, which at the time was worth $3.7 million, when he gave money to venture capitalist Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital.

Uber, which is preparing to go public next year, could be valued at $120 billion according to proposals made by U.S. banks bidding to run the offering.

Armstrong did not disclose how much his investment in Uber is currently worth, saying “it’s a lot more” and “it’s too good to be true”.

When asked by the interviewer if he had made “10, 20, 30, 40 or $50 million”, Armstrong replied: “It’s one of those. It’s a lot, it’s a lot.”

Armstrong won the Tour de France a record seven times but was stripped of his titles and banned for life in 2012 by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after it accused him of engineering one of the most sophisticated doping schemes in sports.

The American later admitted to the cheating in a January 2013 televised interview with Oprah Winfrey.